The 7 best, most satisfying monster sounds of all time

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

When your heroes are fighting terrifying, nearly omnipotent foes, those foes have to not only look the part, but sound it as well. A giant walking squid-like tripod mech or a bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus rex sure are scary — and are likely portents for destruction so swift that we probably shouldn’t waste the effort putting up a fight. If they made the wrong sounds, though, then a large portion of the effect would be lost. If you’re hiding in a shed, the mighty roar of the T-rex hunting you is going to induce a panic much more than, for example, if it reared up on its legs, raised its massive head toward the sky, and softly bleated at the heavens.

We frequently discuss monster sounds here at Geek headquarters, and we play the best ones aloud just as frequently — perhaps to the dismay of our office mates. Those noises are supposed to signal inescapable doom, but sometimes they just sound so satisfying — like the audio version of the feeling you get when popping bubble wrap or swishing the perfect jump shot. These are our favorites — the ones you can regularly hear echoing across our hallowed halls during work hours. The metric here is not only how iconic the sound is, but how buttery smooth it sounds going into your earholes — the H. Jon Benjamin voice of monster sounds.

War of the Worlds’ tripods

Say what you will about the 2005 War of the Worlds remake, but the giant war machine tripods were horrifying. They were so large and their weapons had such a wide range that you couldn’t really run away. Their announcement noise — a deep, reverberating horn — not only signaled the machines’ arrival, but that you’re time is probably up, and you can’t escape. However, for something that promised inevitable destruction, that horn — and its following singsong trail-off — sounds so, so right.

Mass Effect’s Reapers

Mass Effect’s series-wide big bad, the Reapers, were not only gigantic machines of destruction that were nearly impossible to miss as they towered above cityscapes, but were nearly impossible for your ears to miss as well. With a deep, buzzing horn, the Reapers announced their presence for all to hear, in case someone — somewhere — somehow missed them as they laid waste to everything in their path. They also might’ve been inspired by the War of the Worlds tripods, considering they look similar, have similar weapons, and even sound similar.

BioShock’s Big Daddy

For all of the creepy, incredible atmosphere of BioShock’s Rapture, the Big Daddies aren’t really visually scary; they’re big, round, dopey guys slowly lumbering around. Sure, they’re a pain to fight — and yes, you’d be scared if you saw a guy on the street running at you with a huge drill arm — but the very sight of them isn’t inherently scary. It’s like seeing a lion at the zoo — the sight of them isn’t scary, you’d only be scared if one started chasing you. However, the whale-like moaning noises the Big Daddies make are terrifying, especially when you can hear them in the distance but have no visual confirmation of the enemy. For whatever reason, though, the moans hit the ear in such a pleasing manner that you might find yourself standing still in Rapture, listening to the soothing sounds of your eventual doom.

Cloverfield’s monster

No, the monster in Cloverfield is not nearly as iconic as Godzilla, but this is where our metrics of ear-satisfaction comes into play. Godzilla is the city destroying monster, but his screech is the giant monster version of nails being dragged across a chalkboard. The sound Clover (the production name given to the creature) makes, though, is more deep, guttural, and pleasing to the ear — though not the psyche.

Falling Skies’mechs

TNT’s Falling Skies has yet another alien machine that, almost politely, satisfies your eardrums right before it murders you. The mechs aren’t the unstoppable alien forces that Mass Effect’s Reapers or War of the Worlds’ tripods are — as the show moves on, they can be killed by electricity, specially crafted bullets fired from a regular gun, or blasts from alien guns — but you still wouldn’t ever want to run into one. If you did, though, at least the last thing your ears hear will be a satisfying doom-horn.

Tremors’ Graboid

One of the monsters in the Tremors series, the Graboid, makes a variety of sounds — most of them lion-like roars or wolf-like growls. However, its moan (at 23 seconds in the above video) falls right into the audio pleasure zone, much in the same way the Big Daddy’s moan does. Being eaten by the worm after, though, probably only falls into one very specific pleasure zone.

Jurassic Park’s T-rex

Jurassic Park’s Tyrannosaurus rex was perhaps the first time in modern-day Hollywood that a huge fuss was made of a monster noise. That terrifying-but-satisfying sound was brought to life thanks to, oddly, slowing down the natural noises of a Jack Russell Terrier — its bark, growl, and so on. The lizard king’s iconic roar was created thanks in large part to the slowed-down roar of a baby elephant.

Most of our favorite sounds have the common theme of a deep horn or reverberating buzz — and, of course, the notion that this is probably it for you, should you hear them. Other monsters have other iconic sounds — even Predator has a somewhat audibly satisfying deep, growl-like voice. The above handful, though, are the ones we could put on loop and listen to all day — and do, much to the dismay of our coworkers.